Kazuya Hiramaru
Kazuya Hiramaru (Born June 18, 1984 in Kanagawa-ken, Japan), is a different kind of genius than Eiji Niizuma. He picked up an issue of Jump on the metro, thought it was something he could do, and then quit his job to draw manga. He had a manga getting seralized in Jump called Otters 11 which was later cancelled. Later on he serialized the one-shot he entered into the Super Leaders' Love Fest, You Can't Reach Me. He is also a heavy drinker, but this is only shown in the party for Jump authors. Personality & Character Hiramaru was a salary man that hated working. On hearing Takagi and Mashiro]] talking about drawing manga on the subway and finding an abandoned copy of Jack, he quit his job to be a mangaka because he thought it would be less work for him. After teaching himself to draw manga in a very short amount of time, his manga, Otters 11 is serialized. He is hailed as a genius by Yoshida who pushed for his serialization saying that Hiramaru had no real motivation to continue as a mangaka and failure would just make him quit. Hiramaru is extremely lazy and immediately regrets getting serialized due to the amount of work to keep up a weekly series. He has said that he doesn't know why people have to work for a living and that he wants to sleep when he's tired and to eat when he's hungry. Due to his laziness, his editor , Koji Yoshida, often schemes to manipulate Hiramaru into working. Hiramura often tries to escape Yoshida to avoid working. His attempts to escape Yoshida is a long-running gag in the manga. He's also a chronic hypochondriac and often makes incredible claims of illness. However, he is always proven healthy by the doctors. It's mostly believed that his "illnesses" are not only a product of his own fears, but also serves as an excuse to avoid work. He is also obsessed with women, especially young girls. One of Yoshida's schemes to get him to work is to introduce him to young pretty girls. He also has a huge crush on Aoki Yuriko. Yoshida bribes him into doing work by giving him weekly facts about Aiko. Yoshido also often depicts dramatic scenarios of Aoki rejecting him due to his laziness or inability to produce names to energize him to work hard. Because he can't stand the idea of losing Aoki in his life, a combination of his own anxiety and Hiramaru's end-game scenarios, he works feverishly in hopes his work will earn Aoki's heart and eventually gets engaged to her in Chapter 160. Appearance Hiramaru has long black hair cut into layers, and tired eyes. He is normally seen wearing a white shirt with suspenders and pants that are slightly rolled up. Later, his black hair gets cut shorter and his eyes become less tired. History Beginnings Hiramaru worked as a salary man for a unspecified amount of years. One day on the subway, he overheard Muto Ashirogi talking about fame and fortune over being a mangaka. After the duo left the train, he found an abandoned copy of Shonen Jump over the rails and started his interest in manga. Tired of his existence, he quit his job and immediately dived into creating his own manga. With no history in being a mangaka, he managed to get Otters 11 published. However, even with his creativity, he often carries a poor attitude to his worth ethics. However, his work gave him success and he invited to Jump's annual new year party. The New Years Party During the New Years Party, Hiramaru hangs out with Niizuma. When Takagi and Mashiro show up, he mistakes them for high school students and not the mangakas that they are. He is telling them how he shouldn't be a mangaka, because he doesn't know how he will keep up a weekly series. He stops talking to them when Yoshida comes and gets him. He asks Yoshida, "Do you enjoy life?". Yoshida ingores the question, saying that it will be the tagline for chapter three. A similar tagline is used in Shell (Chapter) 75, in which Otter 11 asks the employee Yoshida, "Do you enjoy your job?" Otters 11 serialization Hiramaru is overworked with working on Otters 11. He sneaks out to go to other manga-ka's studios, but Yoshida always finds him. Hiromaru claims that he has started urinating blood, but when he went to the doctor nothing happened, so his editors are continuing to make him work. Creator Strike Mashiro is put into hospital and many of the manga-kas go on strike, until Mashiro can start working again. Hiramaru Kazuya joins the strike, though it was mostly so he can avoid his duties as a mangaka and take a break Anime Otters 11 had received anime offers but the Editor-in-Chief and Yoshida didn't tell Hiramaru because they wanted to see if they could get a better offer (the original offer had been for a midnight slot), but they couldn't so they finally accepted the offer. The ratings eventually allow it to begin a second season. Super Leaders Love Fest Eventually, however, Otters 11 gets canceled at Shell 200, its plot development decreased. Hiramaru believes that he could stop working, but due to an opportunity to continue seeing Aoki, is convinced to start You Can't Reach Me, based off of Kimi ni Todoke. The one-shot places third overall and second of the Super Leaders, prompting Yoshida to convince Hiramaru to try for serialization. Manga Otters 11 is about otter people trying to fix the world. Their hands supposedly turn into giant rocks. Boku to Tsujinai (You Can't Reach Me) is Hiramaru's current running manga. Hiramaru's willingness to work has reached a new low, with the art significantly more comical than Otters 11. This is seen where Hiramaru still stays in the single-digits range, to which Yoshida explains was due to his art, making the readers take Hiramaru's "serious romance" manga as a gag manga. Hiramaru has subsequently improved his art with Nakai's assistance. Notes & Trivia *Hiramaru wishes he was born a pampered panda at the zoo. *Hiramaru's comic tendencies with animals, exasperation at his editor, and laziness draw a parallel to Sorachi Hideaki, mangaka of Gintama. In more recent years, the poor quality of his art due to laziness and induced hiatus draw more of a parallel to Togashi Yoshihiro, mangaka of Hunter X Hunter. *He ranked 3rd on recent popularity poll. *He likes collecting stuff animals, and he self-proclaimed that his talent was, "to be able to get away from Yoshida-shi." Articles & References External Links Category:Male Characters Category:Bakuman Characters Category:Mangaka